More Than Half of UK Recruiters Expect A Recession in 2020

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Annual Trends Research also shows that nearly half think talent shortage is worse now than five years ago

This article is the view of the author and not necessarily of Ready for Brexit.

Nearly three quarters (74 percent) of UK recruiters believe skills shortages will be their top hiring challenge for 2020, followed by getting employers to increase candidate pay rates (42 percent), and reskilling workers to meet client demands (26 percent). According to Bullhorn’s 2020 Global Recruitment Insights and Data (GRID), a survey of more than 2,000 global recruitment professionals, nearly half (46 percent) believe the talent shortage in the UK is worse now than it was five years ago.

The findings follow the launch of The World Economic Forum’s Reskilling Revolution, an initiative to provide one billion people with better education, skills, and jobs by 2030. The majority (80 percent) of UK recruiters agree that reskilling candidates is an effective way to address talent shortages. Three quarters (75 percent) also agreed that employers must accelerate pay increases, to compete for qualified candidates.

Peter Linas, Bullhorn’s Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and International, commented: “The talent shortage in the UK is getting worse, but there are ways that recruiters can help tackle it. Of course, increasing pay will attract better candidates, but reskilling employees is one of the biggest opportunities in recruitment right now. Recruiters are best positioned to identify emerging skills and competencies, and guide businesses that are struggling to get to grips with how job roles are changing, and how to find the talent they need.”

The importance of diversity is increasing

More than two thirds (68 percent) believe that diverse organisations are more effective, representing an eight percent uptick from last year. It seems this belief is shared by their clients, too – over half (54 percent) of recruiters said they have clients that require diverse candidate shortlists. More specifically, recruitment businesses specialising in sales and marketing were considerably more likely (65 percent) to receive diversity requests than those in healthcare (37 percent). Unfortunately, nearly half (49 percent) said that there’s a shortage of diverse candidates in the talent pool and over a quarter (27 percent) said they’ve experienced discrimination in their own career in recruitment.

Linas continued: “Both companies and recruiters are responsible for creating a more diverse workforce, but technology has a role to play, too. The right recruitment technology can automate CV parsing to identify candidates that have the qualifications, experience or skills needed, without considering their background. This means it can put candidates forward who might otherwise not make the cut” said Linas.

The role of technology

Despite the abundance of recruitment technology available, only 12 percent have fully adopted it. By comparison, more than a fifth (22 percent) are barely using their technology at all. When asked what the top obstacle to implementing technology was, the most common response was that the team doesn’t see the value in it (29 percent) followed by limited training resources (16 percent). However, nearly all agree that digital transformation could help their business (85 percent) and that firms which fail to leverage the power of process automation risk falling behind the competition (88 percent).

“It is worrying that recruiters aren’t fully embracing the technology available to them, as it can help with the exact problems recruiters are currently facing – talent shortages, salary expectations, and diversity quotas. The right technology can help recruiters source talent in unexpected places and gather salary information. If you’re not given the right training, continue to ask for it or go to a competitor – no recruiter can afford to be without it,” Linas said.

Political and economic challenges

Nearly three quarters (73 percent) cited economic uncertainty as their top macroeconomic challenge for the year, and more than half (52 percent) expect a recession in the next 12 months, a significant increase from under a third (30 percent) last year. However, some are still cautiously optimistic about what 2020 may hold: over two thirds (69 percent) still expect to increase revenue in the year ahead. In addition, most (72 percent) say globalisation and the increased mobility of talent is an opportunity for their business.

“Brexit has caused a lot of uncertainty, so it is reassuring to see that recruiters expect an increase in revenue. Recruiters have a significant role to play in uncertain times – they can provide candidates and clients with stability and certainty and can reassure them of the pipeline of talent coming in. As long as they can use the resources offered to them, recruiters are in a great position for this year,” Linas concluded.

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